Flicker
by everything's uglier up close
Summary: "She doesn't know when watching movies with him becomes a tradition, a regular thing, something they do every Friday, but it does." Or, five movies the Doctor and Rose watched together, and one they didn't. Written for the 100 words instant challenge.
1. leisure

one. _leisure - free time_

* * *

Rose Tyler was bored.

It was rare that she was bored; her life had been so full of adventure and danger since the Doctor with his blue box and leather jacket and Northern accent had come around. And normally she appreciated some leisure time, but it had been three hours since they had been outside - eleven if she included her eight sleep hours. And while she rather liked watching the Doctor tinkering with the Tardis, it got boring after the first ten minutes. Not to mention that every time she tried to make conversation, he would either brush her off with a one-word answer or give her a five-minute speech on Gallifreyan technology and its quirks that she wouldn't understand a single word of.

"Doctor?" she asked tentatively. He grunted. She took that as a response. "When do you think you'll be done?" Another grunt. Okay, not so much of a response. Realising she was going nowhere, she slid off her chair near the Tardis console and decided to go exploring.

"What are you doing?"

The Doctor. Oh, so now he chose to say something. "I'm bored, so I'm going exploring."

"But your wrist - " he began.

"Is fine," she finished for him. They'd run into some nasty aliens yesterday on the planet Awrin yesterday, and she'd sprained her right wrist. Was that why he wasn't dragging her off on some adventure, as usual? Her wrist was fine, all wrapped up in some alien cast thing that was supposed to heal her wrist by tonight.

The Doctor sighed, realising there was no way he could stop her. "All right then, but don't get lost. The Tardis is a lot bigger than you think."

"It's alright," said Rose. "The ship likes me." She hadn't gotten lost since her first night, in which she'd wandered around for twenty minutes looking for the bathroom before bumping into the Doctor, who had pointed her in the right direction. He said it was normal - the Tardis liked to test his companions, that sort of thing. But since then, she'd gotten around just fine. She'd passed the test, apparently.

She'd only been exploring for a few minutes when she ran into a huge set of double doors, made of mahogony with eleaborate decorated gold handles. Curious, she pushed the door open with her left hand. To her surprise, it actually opened. Her eyes widened as she stepped in and soaked in the sight. To her right was a cozy couch, a side table, an armchair, and what appeared to be a large screen. And to her left - shelves. Hundreds of shelves, all filled with books. How many were there? There had to be thousands, hundreds of thousands. A library. This was the Tardis library. It was huge, and it was amazing.

She'd never been much of a reader, but she'd have to be blind not to be interested by this. She slid a book off a shelf, and for a second, it was undecipherable, written in a strange language, but it immediately translated. _The Beasts of the Sedus Galaxy_. She flipped to a random page to see an image of a strange creature with what appeared to be the head of a moose and the body of a slim white cat. Tucking the book underneath her arm, she crouched down to examine the bottom shelves - the books looked a bit different - when she realised that those weren't books on the bottom shelves at all! They were movies! Placing her book on the floor, she slid a familiar DVD case out. _The Lion King_.

"Oh, you wonderful, wonderful Tardis," she said. It slipped out before she realised that she was talking to a ship. The Doctor must've been rubbing off her. She picked up the book and the movie, holding them both with one hand, placed them on the side table, and scrutinized the screen. It must've been some sort of advanced telly, but she couldn't find the controls. She opened the drawer of the table and found a remote control. Okay, that was good... if only she could understand half the symbols.

Frustrated, she decided to give up on the telly and just read her book. But before that, maybe she should pop some popcorn. And grab a blanket. Nothing says cozy leisure time like a book, popcorn, and a blanket.

* * *

When she came back with a bag of microwaved popcorn and her favorite lilac and grey snuggy draped over her shoulder, she found the Doctor, spread out on the couch with his head on one side and his feet on the other, reading _The Beasts of the Sedus Galaxy_.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

He turned his head around. "Oh, hello." He stood up, walked over, and reached for a handful of her popcorn, but she jerked the bag away.

"I thought you were tinkering with the Tardis!"

"Finished tinkering. Was bored. Went to the library, because y'know, it _is _my library. By the way, if you were going to read that book, don't. It's rather boring, and very outdated - only the first edition. You should read the eighth - that's fabulous, with 3D photos and everything..."

"Alright, if you can find it. Although I didn't want to read it very much in the first place," she confessed. "I wanted to watch _The Lion King_."

"Why didn't you?" the Doctor asked.

"I... couldn't figure out the remote," she said, embarrassed.

To her surprise, he didn't laugh. "That's alright. This sort of telly won't be invented until the 50th century. Great telly, this is though. Not only can it play the 5-D flashes, it can play good old fashioned 2-D DVDs. Not VCRs though. Those are ancient."

"So can you turn it on?" she asked hopefully.

"Why would I?" he asked, twirling the remote in his hand. "You'd be better off reading _Beasts_. At least it's educational and all that, better than watching some old cartoon _Disney _thing."

"Oi!" she exclaimed. "That film was my childhood. Good memories, you know. That's it, no popcorn for you." And with that, she pulled the bag away from his fingers and far out of his reach and sat down on the couch. Keeping her eye on the bag, she wrapped her blanket around herself and reached for the book. However, she couldn't resist looking up when she heard a slight _click _and saw the familiar Disney symbol illuminating the huge screen.

"Aha!" said the Doctor gleefully, swiping her unattended bag on the table. He had a handful of popcorn stuffed in his mouth before she could jump up and snatch it away from him. The Doctor didn't let go easily, however, and the bag ripped apart. Rose squeaked as popcorn flew everywhere.

"Look what you did!"

"What _I_ did, Rose Tyler?"

She would have said more, but the beginnings of the "Circle of Life" started warbling out of those 50th century speakers, and her eyes drifted to the screen, entranced.

"Oi, Rose, someone's got to clean this up," the Doctor said, bringing her back to reality.

She sighed. "Okay, I will..." The Doctor raised his eyes, surprised that she gave in so easily, when, hit by a sudden impulse, she added, "if you watch it with me?"

"Sorry, Rose, but _why _in the universe would I watch a Disney film from the 20th century? No thank you!"

She pouted. She hadn't been expecting him to say yes, of course; watching Disney films rather went against his leather-jacket-and-brooding-Time-Lord image, but it was worth a shot. "Come on," she urged. "You have nothing to do since the Tardis is all fixed, and I've stolen your library. And we can't go on adventures since I broke my wrist." She put on her best puppy-dog pout. "I'll share my blanket, and I'll even pop another bag of popcorn."

He raised his eyebrows and was silent for a very, very long time. Finally, he said, "Two bags. And _I _get to choose the next film we watch."

"Next film?"

The Doctor nodded and slid another case out of the shelf. "A History of Computer Chips - a three-hour long documentary made in the thirty-first involving things like physics and machinery, all the things I know you love."

Rose rolled her eyes. But fine. That was a small price to pay. Smiling to herself, she headed for the kitchen, looking for popcorn and a dustpan.

* * *

Written for the One Hundred Words Instant Challenge on the FanFiction Imagination forum.


	2. glamour

two. _glamour - beauty_

* * *

She doesn't know when watching movies with him becomes a tradition, a regular thing, something they do every Friday, but it does. One week she chooses the movie - usually Disney films or her favorite cheesy rom coms on the days when she wants to get back at him - and the next week he picks the movie, trying to outdo her by choosing boring three-hour documentaries that she usually doesn't understand half of. Not that she minds - there is something fascinating about watching a documentary from the future or sometimes from an alien planet, even if she doesn't understand it, and she does like learning. And occassionally he'll even answer her questions. They even have a name for it: Film Friday. (Because Movie Night is so typical.)

Film Friday is a simple occasion. She'll make two bags of popcorn and pour them into a pink plastic bowl and come into the library in her pyjamas with her favorite lilac and grey fluffy blanket. On the first few Fridays, she has to find him and drag him out of his hiding place, but after a while, he's waiting for her, his feet propped up on the table and the introductory movie credits already playing. "Well?" he'll say. "Hurry up. Let's get this over with."

They'll sit on opposite ends of the sofa, usually, and she'll either be completely engrossed or trying very hard not to fall asleep. (She did fall asleep once. Okay, twice. Both times she woke up with the Doctor gone and her lilac and grey blanket neatly tucked around her.) The Doctor will look very disinterested throughout the entire thing. But he shows up. Every Friday, without fail.

* * *

Captain Jack Harkness was pretty sure he was lost. No big deal, of course. As a Time Agent, he got lost often but always found his way onto the right path, sometimes naked. Rose had assured him that getting lost in the Tardis was normal - she was huge, after all, and she liked to play tricks on newcomers.

"The first night was awful," Rose had said with a laugh. "But don't worry, you'll get used to it. It only took me a day."

Right. Except it had been almost a week, and he was still getting lost. He'd been wandering for over half an hour.

He finally burst into the familiar console room and let out a small sigh. Didn't even have to get naked for that one. Pity... He looked around for the Doctor, sure he'd be here. Maybe the Doctor would have some tips for how to not get lost in the Tardis. If he didn't laugh at him first. (He probably would, but Jack wouldn't mind. The Doctor needed to laugh more often.)

"Hey Doc, where are you?" he asked. "I've been getting lost in this place for a week. Any tips?"

No response. Jack looked around, surprised, but there was no mistaking it. He wasn't in the console room. Where else would he be, then? Of course the Doctor must have had a personal bedroom, but he wasn't there very often. The console room was the hub of the Tardis. Funny thing, Jack hadn't run into Rose anywhere either...

Oh well. Back to wandering and being lost. He chose a random hallway and began to walk. Eventually, he'd have to run into one of them.

He passed by a set of double doors and was sure that he heard something. Huh. Maybe this was where the Doctor and Rose were hiding out. Probably shagging, he thought to himself with a grin. The sexual tension practically oozed off them. And with that thought, he pushed the door. It opened noiselessly. Ohoho, he was going to get them so bad!

A movie was playing on a giant screen - one of those old-fashioned 3D things that he was sure no one had seen in thousands of years. And sitting in front, with a bowl of popcorn between them, were the Doctor and Rose. Not shagging. He couldn't help but to be a bit disappointed. He would've very much liked to see that, after all.

"Ahem," he said, making his presence known.

Rose turned around first. "Jack!" she said with a big smile. Even if she wasn't shagging with the Doctor, she did look rather cute in her red flannel jimjams. "Come join us."

The Doctor turned around and scowled. "Jack won't want to watch the film with us. It's a 3D thing from the twenty-seventh century. Jack's used to holographic movies that fill up the entire room so that you're literally there. This'll be like you trying to watch a silent film from the 1930's, except fifty times worse!"

The Doctor was right, but his scowl rather amused him. Might as well have some fun. "I don't know, Doctor," said Jack, taking a seat next to Rose on the couch and purposely curling up close to her. "Could be nice, some sort of history-related experience or whatever. And the quality of that screen may be ancient, but the girl on the screen is still hot." He gestured to the redheaded bombshell that was currently on the screen arguing with a stocky dark-haired man. "The guy's not half-bad either."

Rose giggled. "The movie's called _The Thorned Daisy_. It's a - what's it called, Doctor? A glamour movie?"

"Yes, glamour movie," said the Doctor, rather harshly. "Very popular in the 2730s. All cheap tricks and special effects. Nothing you'd like, Jack."

"Then why are _you _watching it?" Jack asked. Oh, he was treading precarious ground, and he knew it, but it was so much fun to poke at him.

"Rose chose it. It was her turn," the Doctor said, still scowling.

Her turn? So they did this regularly. He stood up, figuring that he'd had enough fun with the Doctor. Better leave him to have his fun with Rose. "Well, alright. I guess it's not really my kind of film. Have fun though, you two." He took a handful of the popcorn and headed for the door. He could still feel the Doctor's glare on his back. So for good measure, he turned around and winked before he left.


	3. labyrinthine

three. _labyrinthine - twisting and turning_

* * *

It took her a while to get used to him after he changed, but she accepted it fairly quickly. He _was _still the Doctor, and she loved his great hair. (But some mornings she would wake up and expect to see a leather jacket at the breakfast table, and there wasn't. Instead there was a big brown coat and him.) He was just so different.

So she was maybe just a little hesitant when Friday came around - would he show up? Would Film Friday still be a thing, even though he had changed? Maybe this regeneration didn't like movies? Then again, she was pretty sure his old regeneration hadn't liked movies very much, and he had always showed up. He still was the Doctor, she reminded herself. They were still the Doctor and Rose.

With that thought in mind, she pushed the door open to the library with one hand, her other hand holding a bowl of popcorn. Her eyes immediately went over to the sofa, where he normally would be sitting, and her worst fear was confirmed when she realised it was empty. There was nothing but the purple and grey blanket. _He wasn't there_. Maybe he'd just forgotten, she tried to reassure herself, but it wasn't like him to lose track of time like that, him being a Time Lord and all...

Then a familiar head popped out from behind the telly. "Rose, you're here!"

She almost sighed out loud in relief. So Film Friday was still a thing. It was nice to know that some things hadn't changed. Grinning, she placed the pink popcorn bowl on the table and sat down on the sofa, leaning on the arm rest and cuddling up under her blanket. "What are you doing with the telly?" she asked.

"Oh, just making some adjustments," the Doctor replied, waving his sonic screwdriver around. "I've got a film from the planet Mazac, and their tellies are a bit different. They're actually one of the few civilizations that developed films at a slower rate than Earth, did you know?" He pried a panel on the telly open with his hands and pointed at some wires with his sonic screwdriver. "And their televisions are portrait, instead of landscape, so it won't fit too well on this widescreen, but it's a great documentary, worth watching."

"What exactly is it about?" Rose asked.

The Doctor closed the panel and put his sonic screwdriver back into his coat. "Oh, it's called _Mazical_ - not the best title, in my opinion - and it's about this giant labyrinthine maze made of purple hedges, and its walls move every night, like something out of one of your sci-fi novels. The scientific explanation is fascinating, I'm sure you'll love it." He took off his coat and draped it on the table before coming to sit next to her. He pressed a button on the remote, and the screen flickered to life. Sure enough, the picture was vertical, instead of horizontal like she was used to.

"The maze is usually called the Lavender Labyrinth," the Doctor continued with his explanation, despite the fact that by that point the movie narrator was speaking as well. "Although I personally think it's too dark of a purple to be called lavender. But the alliteration is nice, always." As he rambled on, Rose couldn't help but to compare him to the other Doctor, who never said anything during the film but sat still and silent, as if he was brooding.

"Not lavender like this blanket of yours, now that's a lavender," the Doctor rambled on, taking her blanket and scooting closer to her so that he could wrap it around himself as well. Suddenly Rose was aware of the fact that this new Doctor was a lot different in other ways. They were sitting a lot closer than they usually did. Every previous movie night, they had the popcorn bowl between them, him on one side and her on the other. But today the popcorn bowl was on the table in front of them, meaning there was nothing between them, and they were on one side of the sofa, together, under the same blanket, so close that she could feel the warmth radiating from him, and their thighs were touching.

She wondered if this was intentional, if he knew. He seemed oblivious to her inner turmoil. He was younger in this regeneration, with that gorgeous hair, and she had to admit that yes, he was attractive. Not that he wasn't before, but he was more conventionally attractive now, and well, just different.

_Focus on the screen_, she reminded herself. She tried to concentrate on the glowing purple bugs that looked like little leaves that were glittering on the screen and listened to the lull of the narrator's voice. "These bugs, called the labyrinth walking leaves, are one possible explanation for the phenomenon of the moving maze..."

She suddenly yawned, wishing that the narrator had a less monotonous voice. (She much rather preferred the Doctor's voice, to be honest.) It had been a long week for her - new regeneration, Sycorax invasion, all that. She leaned her head on the Doctor's shoulder, half expecting him to stiffen or recoil. But he didn't; if anything, he seemed to lean into her touch, curl in closer.

Yes, he definitely had changed. But maybe change wasn't so bad. After all, they were still the Doctor and Rose.


	4. demesne

four. _demesne - dominion, territory_

* * *

She was starting to worry about him.

She stood in the Tardis console room, two cups of tea in her hands, watching the Doctor and anxiously biting her lip. He was lying underneath the console with the hatch open and his sonic screwdriver in his hand, as if he was fixing something, but he wasn't doing anything. He was just lying there, a blank expression on his face. And she just wanted to walk right over and give him a hug or something, but she wasn't sure what to do. Everything was just so much more complicated now.

"Where's Mickey?" she finally asked.

The Doctor turned to face her, his face half-covered by the metal of the Tardis. "Mickey? Oh, he went to bed early. Said he was tired, which makes sense. His body probably isn't used to our schedule yet, kind of like jet lag."

Rose nodded. "Yeah, well, you do kind of lose track of time here." There was an awkward pause before she added, "Um, are you okay?"

The Doctor blinked. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I, um, made tea," she said. "If it helps? Mum used to always make me a cup whenever I was down - "

"Really, Rose, I'm fine," the Doctor interrupted.

"Well, okay," she said. "I'll just leave it here, though, just in case." She placed it on a nearby table. "Better drink it while it's hot, if you are going to, I mean." There was another awkward pause, the silence hanging around awkwardly. It wasn't fair, Rose thought. They used to be able to talk about anything. And this version of the Doctor never shut up; his gob just went and went. It was disconcerting to see him so quiet.

"You sure you don't want to talk about it?" she tried tentatively. "About what happened this week - "

"Nah, why look back? Better to keep running forward," the Doctor said, his eyes not on her but on the Tardis grating above him.

"If you want to talk about Sarah Jane, or Reinette," Rose continued.

"Rose, there is nothing to talk about!"

She looked down, surprised and hurt at the anger, the vehemence, in his voice. "I," she began, trying to put her thoughts into words, trying to let him know that she was only worried about him, and about them, but she couldn't seem to get anything out. "Okay," she finally said, softly. "Okay then." She turned around and walked away. She knew when she wasn't wanted.

* * *

Sometimes, she really hated the Doctor.

(But no, she didn't. She couldn't hate him - ever - and that was what she hated.)

She sat down on the edge of her bed, picking at the loose thread of her pyjamas. Her plain red pyjamas, bought at a little secondhand shop in London that she and her mum had thought were adorable at the time. She bit her lip and thought about everything that had happened recently - first Sarah Jane, and then Mickey coming on board, and then Reinette. Although she couldn't really blame any of them. Sarah Jane was clever and compassionate, and Mickey was her best mate. And Reinette - she was rich, influential, and gorgeous. No, there was nothing wrong with any of them.

It was just her.

Forget about that, she told herself. She flopped down on her bed. Forget about it. No point in mulling over it.

_Toc, toc, toc_.

She lifted her head at the sound of the knock, surprised. It must've been Mickey, she reasoned. Maybe he'd gotten lost on his way to the loo or something, or maybe he hadn't even been able to find his bedroom at all. She remembered how much trouble she and Jack had both had when they had first come on board. "Come in," she said.

The door cracked open, and to her surprise, it wasn't Mickey, but the Doctor. "What are you doing here?" she asked. The words came out sounding more severe than she intended them to. "I just mean, um, I thought you were Mickey?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Nah, I assume he's passed out by now. Long day and all."

Silence. Again. Like always, now. But this time, she didn't try to fill it up with her unwanted chatter. She simply waited. If he wanted to leave, he could.

"It's Film Friday," the Doctor finally burst out.

"What?" She sat up in her bed, staring at him.

"Film Friday," he repeated. "Movie night? Popcorn and blankets and everything?"

"Yeah, I know, I guess I forgot," she said, chewing her lip and wondering why he had brought it up. She'd thought... Things were so difficult to him; what did he want from her, honestly?

"Yeah, well, you do kind of lose track of time here," he said with a smile, repeating word-for-word what she had said earlier. Rose blinked. She hadn't even thought he was listening. She stared at him, trying to figure him out. Another silence stretched out across her room.

"Well?" he said, leaning on her doorframe. "Are you coming or not?"

"I don't know, I'm kind of tired..."

"Ah, but Rose, we have to finish up part five of _The Great and Bountiful Human Empire _today. We've been watching this all month. This installment is the conclusion, the finale that everyone has to see, where the human empire expands its demesne but begins to accept alien life instead of fighting it, a very huge point in human history, in my humble opinion."

Rose couldn't help herself; she laughed. "There is _nothing _humble about you."

The Doctor shrugged and grinned. "So, are you coming to the library with me or not?" When he noticed her hesitation, he added, "I've already made the popcorn. It's caramel corn, this time, the special one we bought on the planet Razad, remember how good those samples were? Please?"

Rose sighed. She was fighting a losing battle, and she knew it; she could never say no to his heartbreaking puppy dog face. But she needed to get something out of the way; she couldn't live like this forever, pretending that nothing had changed and pushing the past under a lumpy rug. "You and I, we're okay?" she asked tentatively.

"Rose Tyler, I - we'll always be okay," he said, giving her that special fond smile that made her melt every time. (But had he smiled at the others like that too?)

She frowned, not entirely convinced. "But I mean, are you okay? Honestly?"

"Why the sudden interest?" he asked, rather harshly.

"Why? Do you even have to ask? Because you're my - " She broke off, unsure of how to complete the sentence. Honestly, what were they? Was she just his assistant? Another companion in a long line? Someone who didn't matter to him at all? "I just mean, I worry about you, Doctor. I really do. Especially about everything that happened today, with Reinette... I'm sorry that she died, that you couldn't save her. And, if you want to talk about it, I mean, don't you want to?"

The Doctor sighed and ran a hand through his hair. In three long strides, he walked across the room and sat down on the side of her bed. "Rose, I really am alright. It happens, every now and then - well, all the time, really, everywhere I go. I appear and people die."

"That's not true, you _save _people."

"Not all. Never all," he said, his voice so low and quiet that she barely caught it. He wouldn't meet her eyes.

"But you did save her life. Saved her from those clockwork robots, sacrificed up a lot to do it, even." (_Like the Tardis, like Mickey, like me_, she thought. But she didn't mention it - he obviously felt guilty enough, and this wasn't supposed to be about her.) "And she loved you. That had to count for something." (_Did you love her?_ she wondered. But she didn't mention that either.)

"She shouldn't have," he replied. "And I barely even knew her for an hour. I - I just promised her one trip, to apologize for those robots getting into her timestream when they shouldn't have and terrorizing her."

"She thought you were worth it," Rose said, wishing she knew what exactly to say to him. "Something about an angel in a world of demons."

"And she died thinking that."

"I do too," she continued quietly. "Although you are _not _an angel. And most of the aliens and things we encounter aren't really demons either." She chuckled, rather nervously.

He turned around and finally met her eyes, giving her that soft fond smile again, although there seemed to be something different, in his eyes, something she couldn't quite decipher. She found herself moving closer, as if drawn to him, the silence that wrapped around them was less awkward this time, but more charged, as if it was waiting for something to happen, something big, some moment -

"So, Rose Tyler, are we going to watch that movie or not? The night won't last forever!" the Doctor exclaimed, standing up, and the moment was over. But he offered her a hand and, grinning manically, said, "Come on, _The Great and Bountiful Human Empire_ and a bag of caramel corn awaits!"

She took his hand. "Of course. I can't wait." Standing up beside him, she grinned.

They were going to be okay. They always would.


	5. halcyon

five. _halcyon - happy, sunny, care-free_

* * *

"_Ghostbusters_, Rose?" the Doctor whined. It was yet another Friday, meaning another movie, and it was her turn to choose. "The movie's so _fake_, though! After we've seen real life ghosts, how can you even want to watch something like this? And I have so many other options! Honestly, out of all the movies in my extensive and impressive - "

"You're not _that _impressive," Rose interrupted, laughing.

"I am too!" he said, rather childishly. Rose threw a piece of popcorn at him. The Doctor caught the kernel in his mouth, which made her 'attack' rather ineffective. He grinned smugly.

"Oh, just sit down and quit your whining. I could have chosen a Disney film! And I endured your two-part documentary on spiders for the last two weeks too!" she pointed out. Rose wasn't really afraid of spiders or anything - bugs were nothing after some of the other things she had seen - but she hadn't been too happy about watching five hours worth of spider.

"Spiders are fascinating creatures, Rose Tyler," protested the Doctor as he sat down next to her. She lifted her blanket so that he could sit down next to her. "And they show up - "

"On various planets in the universe in more or less similar forms no matter how drastically different the planets are," she finished for him. "You mentioned. Like three times last week."

The Doctor shrugged. "Just checking to see if you were paying attention; you humans forget everything, such primitive memories..."

"Shush, the movie's started," Rose said, nudging him with her elbow. She picked up a handful of popcorn and started feeding it into her mouth one by one. The Doctor looked at her out of the corner of his eye, irritated. And then, in one swift movement, he snatched the popcorn out of her hand and stuffed it all in his mouth.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "Get your own! There's a whole bowl over there!"

"Ah well," he said with a smirk. "That's over there, Rose."

"You could've just asked nicely," she pointed out.

"There's no fun in that!"

She sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder. "But, Doctor, that's rude of you. Rude and not ginger."

"I suppose so," he said with a overly dramatic defeated sigh. He leaned his head on hers and then suddenly jerked away. "Ow." He reached over and plucked a pink bobby pin out of her hair. "This _thing _poked me."

"Baby! It's a hair pin, not a sword. Did it scare you away?" she teased.

He scoffed. "It'll take a lot more than that for me to get scared away."

She smiled fondly, looking into his eyes. "That's right. Never ever split apart."

He paused for a split second, and she was worried that he was going to say something about a coming storm and 'never say never ever' or retreat back into himself or something. She prayed that he wouldn't, because they'd been getting so close lately; everything was so halcyon and perfect and sunny. And then he smiled and said one word.

"Yes."

She grinned wider and patted down the part of her hair where he had pulled out the pin. "But I suppose I should get all these pins out, before I sleep."

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, you should."

"Help me?" she asked as she undid her braids, pulling out the rubber bands and stretching them around her wrist while the Doctor angled himself so that he could pluck out the other bobby pins. Within a minute, her hair was loose, wavy from the braids.

But his fingers were still in her hair. She turned around so that they were facing each other and realised just how close he was. Her heart pounded in her ears; could he hear it too? Just a little closer, and it would be so easy...

A loud scream from the television broke the moment. Right. The movie. She'd forgotten. Rather awkwardly, she turned away from him and directed her attention to the screen, where the fictional Peter Venkman was investigating his fake ghosts. She heard the Doctor cough next to her and scoot just a little farther away.

That always happened, she thought to herself, a bit disappointed. They got close, so close, and she thought something big could - would - happen between them, but then they got interrupted, or he pulled himself away. But, she also thought, as she leaned her head on his shoulder, she had time, didn't she? She had forever, with him. They had forever. And she smiled as she cuddled up with him and the blanket, and she felt his arm around her waist as they watched the movie. The movie did seem rather fake and cheap after seeing the real thing, but Film Friday wasn't about the movies anymore. It was just about him, about them.

* * *

The next morning, when she woke up, she found herself wrapped in her lilac and grey blanket, and her head was in his lap. The telly was off, and he was reading a book and stroking her hair.


	6. ephemeral

six. _ephemeral - short-lived_

* * *

Martha Jones was beginning to get frustrated.

She was sitting on a piece of Tardis coral, studying her medical notes. (After all, just because she traveled with an alien now didn't mean her academics would suffer. Martha had always been an excellent student, and she intended to keep it like that.) At least, she was trying to study. It was rather difficult to study without a textbook. Where _was _her textbook, the one she'd brought on board and left near the console, right on the coral she was sitting on? She was certain she'd left it here. She didn't misplace things very often.

"Doctor?" she asked. The Doctor, who was on the other side of the console tinkering with something like he almost always was, raised his head to show that he had heard her. "Have you seen my textbook?"

He frowned. "Textbook, what textbook?"

"The one I'm studying all the time," she explained. When she saw no flash of recognition on the Doctor's blank face, she couldn't help but to feel a little disappointed. Which was ridiculous. He never noticed anything related to her, which was completely understandable considering he had more important things to focus on, like saving the universe and such. "It's a great, big textbook, bright red with a diagram of the human heart - "

"Oh, that one," he said, nodding. "I found it lying about and thought it was mine, so I put it in the library."

"The Tardis has a library?" Martha asked, intrigued. She adored books, and knowing the Doctor, he probably had all sorts.

"Oh, does she ever," said the Doctor. "I'll take you there and help you find your book - I've been told that my cataloging system isn't exactly user-friendly for the average human." For a second, something undecipherable flitted across his face, but it was gone so quickly that Martha figured that she must have just imagined it.

* * *

"This is marvelous!"

Martha had figured that the Doctor's library would be large, but she never could have imagined a place like this. Hundreds of thousands of books! She ran to a shelf and brushed her fingers across the colorful covers. There were all sorts of names and titles that she had never seen before, some which looked alien. She slid a thick pale blue paperback off the shelf and gasped when she recognized the familiar title - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Her eyes got even larger as she read the golden script on the bottom - 50th Anniversary Edition.

"No way!" she exclaimed. "Books from the future! I'm holding a book that hasn't been published yet!" She looked around the library in awe, wondering how many titles, how many classics, how many books that could change her life were hiding in the shelves, books that hadn't even been published in her normal timeline yet.

"Oh, here's your textbook," said the Doctor, coming around the corner with a familiar red book in one hand.

"Forget the textbook!" exclaimed Martha. "This place is amazing! And these books - books that haven't been published in my timeline yet - which ones are the best?" Looking down at the 50th Anniversary Edition of the Harry Potter book in her hand, she added, "Or the seventh Harry Potter! I've been dying to read that, and you've _got _to have it somewhere in this giant place. Where is it?"

The Doctor grinned. "Oh, Martha Jones, you're like a kid in a candy store. Of course you can read it, if I can find it, that is!"

Practically skipping, she noticed a large telly on the other side of the room and a comfy looking sofa next to a side table. What really caught her attention, however, was the stack of DVDs on the table. Maybe there were movies from the future here as well! Curious, she walked over and picked up the first DVD from the stack: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two. Deathly Hallows? That must have been the seventh book - this was the seventh movie. Going through the stack, she noticed that the Doctor had every single one of the movies. It was like a dream.

"No way!" she said, turning around to face the Doctor. "You have the movies too! Can we watch them?" The 'we' slipped out before she caught the word - she had meant to say 'I,' as in her alone, but she didn't correct herself, waiting instead to see how the Doctor would react, because she actually would very much like to watch the movies with him. Together. As friends, fellow fans, and maybe more...

She held her breath for his reaction - maybe, since she had caught him off guard, he wouldn't think much of it and say yes and not realize the implications. And that would be great, she would love that. To her surprise, he walked over and snatched the DVD out of her hands, rather rudely. "I'm afraid not, Martha Jones, timelines and all, these movies are from your future - "

"Why not?" she interrupted, confused and hurt. "Just a few minutes ago you said it was okay for me to read the seventh Harry Potter book. So why can't we watch a movie?"

The Doctor took a while to reply. He arranged and rearranged the DVDs on the table, almost manically, before he finally spoke. "Well, I suppose, if you want, you can watch them, but you must watch them alone, because I have things to do, never waste time watching a movie, you know?"

"That's ridiculous," said Martha, noticing a pink plastic bowl on the other side of the table. Looking closer, she noticed little popcorn kernels at the bottom. Aha! Gesturing towards the bowl, she said, "You've obviously watched movies here before."

And that was when she noticed them.

Three small little things, easily missed on a casual glance.

Bobby pins. Three pink, sparkly bobby pins, next to the popcorn bowl. Ones that obviously didn't belong to the Doctor. Ones that obviously belonged to _her_. Rose. The perfect, mysterious Rose. Observing her surroundings for a second time, she felt stupid for not realising earlier. There were little hints everywhere - the bowl was pink, for one, and on the arm of the sofa was a grey blanket with lilac stripes, and why else would the Doctor be acting so strangely, and those bobby pins, those three little bobby pins.

"I don't anymore, Martha," said the Doctor, his voice bringing her out of his thoughts. The tone of his voice was light and buoyant, but he wouldn't meet her eyes. "Anyway, since I found you your textbook, I ought to go." And with those words, he walked away, his hands in the pocket of his great brown coat.

Martha watched his retreating figure, unsure of what to say. Should she confront him? Comfort him? Both? She would never know. She wasn't Rose, who would've been able to figure out what to say, who would be watching Harry Potter with him. And for not the first time, she wondered who this Rose was, this ephemeral ghost that hovered all around him.

She picked up her textbook from the table and followed him outside, closing the great library doors behind her.


End file.
